More from The Times Online:
THERE was no respite from the troubles of Ireland’s champion steeplechasers yesterday when it emerged that Moscow Flyer would miss the William Hill Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown Park on Saturday. The gelding was found to have a respiratory infection after working at the Curragh, leaving connections with no option but to remove him from the equation.
Coupled with two recent defeats for Kicking King, the Gold Cup winner who damaged a hoof on a loose horseshoe earlier this month, Moscow Flyer’s setback means that Ireland’s marquee horses will reach Christmas without a win to their names this term.
Moscow Flyer’s absence is especially disappointing in view of his surprise defeat by Central House at Navan this month. The Sandown race offered him the opportunity to atone, in the process affirming to the 11-year-old’s legion of fans that he remains at the top of the tree.
Jessica Harrington, who trains Moscow Flyer, was dejected but not downhearted by the development. “He just didn’t sparkle in his work,” she said. “We scoped him and he was not 100 per cent clean. It’s as well we found out at home instead of running him and finding out afterwards. That would have done the horse no good at all.”
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 11:41 AM GMT
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Another story from the BBC:
Armed robbers who threatened staff at a betting shop before fleeing and crashing their car into a house are being hunted by police.
At least four men wearing hooded tops and wielding a knife entered Ladbrokes on Banbury Road, Oxford, on Friday.
They fled towards Roger Street with a small quantity of cash and minutes later a green VW Golf crashed into a house in the same street.
Police believe the Golf was being used by the armed gang as a getaway car.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 3:41 PM GMT
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Another story from the BBC:
A dream holiday was not on the cards for Tony Chessa when he flew out to the Caribbean island of St Kitts on Friday.
Instead the 32-year-old from Greenock has been facing an intense work schedule, taking on some of the world’s best poker players.
"I know from previous trips abroad for tournaments that I’ll be lucky to even see the swimming pool," he said.
"Not that I’m complaining - I love travelling all over the world to play poker, even if I never see much of the exotic places I visit.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 5:41 PM GMT
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Another story from the BBC:
A robber armed with a knife and wearing a red devil mask left a betting shop empty handed after threatening staff.
The man entered Corbetts Bookmakers in Shotton at around 1715GMT on Wednesday.
The office’s security measures stopped the robbery but an assistant was left shaken.
North Wales Police have released an image of the robber, captured on CCTV, and warned local businesses to remain vigilant in the run up to Christmas.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 2:41 PM GMT
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More from The Times Online:
HILTON Group, the hotel and betting shop operator, is to put a further £400 million to £500 million-worth of hotels up for sale, including the 1,058-room Hilton London Metropole, one of Europe’s biggest hotel and conference centres.
The company, which separately is in talks to sell its entire hotel division to Hilton Hotels Corporation, its American marketing partner, expects to put a total of about five UK hotels on the market early next year, including the 794-room Hilton Birmingham Metropole.
In addition, it is seeking to sell a small number of overseas hotels, including the Hilton Luxembourg and the Hilton Durban, together worth an estimated £40 million. As with the British hotels, Hilton is looking to continue running them under a so-called sale and manage-back.
The announcement came as Hilton confirmed that it had completed the sale of 15 UK hotels, including the Hilton London Olympia, in a £382.4 million sale and manage-back. The purchaser, which is backed by Royal Bank of Scotland, is the Managed Hotels Unit Trust, a vehicle set up by an Israeli investor.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 5:11 PM GMT
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More from The Times Online:
THE wide variety of races on a typical British card could be consigned to the scrapheap if racecourses fail to agree how to divide up funds from any replacement to the existing levy on betting, which has funded the sport for more than 40 years. Punters would be faced with a diet of low-grade handicaps while owners and trainers struggled to find maiden races in which to run their horses.
This stark prospect arises from a submission delivered to Lord Donoughue, who chairs a group charged with replacing a levy which the Government is determined to abolish. But while the submission signals accord in principle between racecourses and horsemen, the manner in which funds are distributed is likely to stretch the 59-member Racecourse Association to breaking point.
Some tracks are adamant that funds returning to racing from betting turnover should be allocated in relation to how they were raised. In other words, if one track generated 5 per cent of turnover annually, it should receive a similar percentage of the pot. Advocates of “hypothecation” include Arena, proprietor of Britain’s three all-weather tracks, which generate significant betting turnover through their diet of low-grade handicaps.
Critics of hypothecation maintain that cash should be distributed in this way only after the creation of a substantial development fund to support maidens and races over hurdles and fences for novices. In this camp are the likes of Goodwood, Ascot and tracks owned by Racecourse Holdings Trust — among them Aintree, Cheltenham, Newmarket and Sandown Park.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 12:11 AM GMT
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More from The Times Online:
THERE will be a quarter of a million new gamblers within a year, after the abolition of strict rules on casino entry caused a surge in first-time visitors, The Times has learnt.
In the five weeks since the change in the law, Britain’s 138 casinos have received 100,000 more visits, three times industry estimates. This will translate into 250,000 new casino-goers in a year, according to industry predictions.
The rise comes ahead of a huge expansion in the number of casinos, with 17 new sites opening in 2009 and applications for a further 40 new casinos likely to be approved within months.
Concern is mounting over the massive increase in problem gambling, which has risen fivefold in three years, fuelled by the huge growth of internet gaming. More than 300,000 addicts have sought help.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 9:11 AM GMT
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Another story from the BBC:
Internet casino firms are facing a UK government clampdown over concerns some are breaking strict advertising laws.
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell plans to stop gambling firms from advertising free entry to online tournaments or indicating the value of prizes.
Current laws allow internet casinos to promote their brands but forbid them from offering inducements to gamble.
Ms Jowell said adverts in newspapers, on London Underground platforms and on taxis had flouted these regulations.
Update 12/11/2005: More on this over at Winning Streak
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 3:11 PM GMT
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Another story from the BBC:
Star Wars actors Hayden Christensen and Samuel L Jackson are reuniting for a new crime thriller.
Poker Night will be directed by Nick Gillard, who has worked as a stunt co-ordinator on a host of Hollywood films including the Star Wars series.
Christensen will play a detective who is kidnapped by a serial killer, said industry newspaper Daily Variety.
He took on the role of Anakin Skywalker in the two most recent Star Wars films, while Jackson played Jedi Mace Windu.
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 6:41 PM GMT
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Another story from the BBC:
A former financial consultant who stole £10m to feed his gambling habit, has been jailed for 12 years for “breaches of trust of the grossest order”.
Graham Price, 58, of Llansamlet stole the millions from investors and the Halifax Bank for whom he was an agent.
His barrister said: “He blames absolutely nobody, save himself.”
Posted by casino man in Gambling News at 2:41 PM GMT
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